Life happens. I can empathize with clients when things don’t get done as planned. Life happens to me, too. Just because I am a Professional Organizer does not mean I am perfectly organized; far from it. Pull up a chair while I tell you about my year so far.

Experience #1: On February 22, I sprained my ankle. That put me out of commission for a few weeks. Having sprained my wrist 11 years ago, I knew that my ankle would never be quite right again, and even now, six months later, it still reminds me that all is not well. But at least I am back to full mobility.

Experience #2: The day after I fell, Hubby discovered that our roasting pan was full of water. Unbeknownst to us, that gurgling sound we had been hearing in our kitchen drain for a week was not coming from an apartment above us. No, we had a crack in our p-trap. And it had been leaking every time the dishwasher emptied or we turned on the faucet. This was a problem. The roasting pan had not been able to contain the flood. Water had run behind the lower cabinets and under our living room floor. Gradually, the floorboards lifted.

Remember how I had just sprained my ankle? Initially, I was able to move about in a rolling office chair, but once the floor began to resemble a small mountain range, I could no longer use that method. I ripped up some of the floor with my bare hands, but in order to get around, I had to switch to using two canes, just like Hubby. (Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that he is disabled. Darling Daughter took us out for my birthday in March, looked at us with our canes, and remarked that she now knew what her future would look like. Can you feel the love?)

The water continued to seep into the master bedroom. While the flooring in this room did not lift, it did “cup.” There was also a small amount of mould growth in the linen closet.

Fortunately, all repair costs were covered by our insurance company. Unfortunately, the contractor’s work order was inconsistent with the damage, and it took a while to sort this out. The living room flooring was removed in early March, and the contents of all our bookshelves were packed away. We lived with a plywood floor and were surrounded by boxes for several months.

By the time the renovations began, it was July. While the work was underway, we moved back and forth between temporary accommodations for two weeks. It is now August, and we are back home. However, we still have no plumbing in our kitchen. We are growing weary of washing dishes in the bathroom sink.

If only these two events had been all I had to manage…

Experience #3: Just as I was getting back on my feet (literally) in the spring and beginning to see more clients, my dad became ill and had to be taken to the hospital in mid-May — on Hubby’s birthday, in fact. Once again, I put my work on hold and spent four days a week at his side; my brother was with him evenings and weekends, as well as the days I had other commitments. We treasured every moment with Dear Ole Dad, as he liked to call himself. He passed away on Father’s Day.

So here I sit, trying to reconcile my account balances. My bank says one thing; my software says another. I prepared a report from the software in order to check it manually against my bank records. Except… most of them are missing. Even though my routine is to print them out every month, there are no statements from February through May, yet there are two for June. My standard organizing procedure apparently fell by the wayside this year.